Game



Sept. 7 1926.

F. R. CHESTER GAME - Filed Dec. 5, 192g 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 'Qial\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\u Wggg A TTORNE Sept. 7 1926.

F. R. CHESTER GAME Filed De c. s, 1922 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Fm/v/rR CHES r0:

A TTORNEYfi Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

rum: a c nema, or NEW YORK, 11. '1.

Application ma December a 1922. Serial Io. 605,578.

My invention relates to a game and aims to provide certain new anduseful improvements in connection with a device of this character andparticularly such a game as is utilized. for commercial purposes inamusement resorts, although I wish it understood that the presentinvention is not necessarily limited to use in this connection.

It is a Well appreciated fact that a great number of games have beenconstructed which are intended for commercial use in amusement resorts.These games have been desi ed in great variety and the successfulparticipant in the game has won, according to the ty e of game, eitherby skill, chance, or a com ination of skill and chance.

Certain difiiculties have arisen however, in

now upon the market in that, for exam 1e,-

after having played the same for a num er of times the public has lostinterest therein, due to the fact that a person who has solved themethod of operation of the game relying upon skill for its winning, isnecessarily, almost invariably, the winner of a game of this type whenoperating the same in competition with relatively inexperiencedparticipants. Also, where the game relies for its solution upon theelement of chance the participants have usually become apathetic to thesame after playing the game a number of times.

Thus concessionaires or persons owning games of this nature andoperating them commercially at amusement parks, etc., have offeredobjections to this phase of the same and further objections have'beennoted incident to the fact that in certain types of games of the generalcharacter aforementioned, it has often occurred that two or more unitsoperated by different persons, have been tied and it has hence beennecessary to declare all of these parties as winners and to award prizesaccordin ly which has resulted in a financial loss to t e'partiesexploitingv the game. Also, in certain in stances mechanicaldifiiculties have arisen in connection with the operation of the gamesin that these games necessarily receive rather rough usage and thus,if'the same are at all delicately constructed objections are bound toarise in this connection.

With these and further difliculties in mind my resent invention hasreference to vention is to furnish a device 0 ordinarily embraced inthis class depends for its successful operation, upon the rapi reactionand nervous control of the participant in that, in the presentembodiment of the invention it will be necessa for him to co-ordinate,as ra idly and per ectly as possible, the sense 0 hearing and muscularaction directed thereby. Thus my invention, although being primarilyintended for amusement purposes also provides a psychological test.

From the foregoing it will be understood that a game of this nature isextremely fascinating in use-and will be equally interesting to personsof widely varying intellect and mentality and further that a device ofthis character will cause the players of the game to desire torepeatedly participate in the same.

sense to an impression received by another sense and it will beimpractical for a player to endeavor. to lay out a fixed program ofaction prior to the commencing of the game in that, as will hereafter bebrought out, the schedule under which one of the senses receives itsimpression is beingv constantly varied thus making a previously mappedout plan of action wholly impractical.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gamewhich will be perfect in operation in comparison to games as nowplacedupon the market, in that the mechanism utilizedis extremely sim 1eand positive in operation, so that all ob ections in this connection areavoided.

A still further object of 'my resent inthe character stated in whichcertain mechanism is provided which renders the occurrence of ties (i.e., there being more than one winner in the ame) almost impossible sothat the difliculties with regard to this point are also avoided. a

With these and further objects in min the present invention embracesessentially one or more units which, include a mechanism which willtransmit impressions to one of the human senses as well as a secondarymechanism by means of which the reactions of the second sense ormuscular action to the impressions received by the first sense may 7indicated in Fig. 1..

Fig. 3 is an inner face view of one part of the mechanism controlled bythe particlant.

p Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the mechanismillustrated in the preceding view.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan new of the visual ortion of the reglsteringmechanism utilized in the present embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a second portion of thisregistering mechanism.

Fig. 7 is' an enlarged. sectional view of a portion of the operatingelements of the said mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the entire mechanism of the gamediagrammatically and indicating the circuits, which in the presentembodiment of the invention, are relied upon to produce the resultdesired, it being noted that the circuit which is depended up on tooperate the mechanism, according to the position of the parts in thisfigure, has been indicated in heavy lines and,

Figs. 9 and 10 are views corresponding to Fig. 8, indicating in heavylines those circuits which are active during the usual and latter stagesof the game-operation and the final stage thereof, respectively.

According to the invention as depicted in this application each of theunits of the game embraces two groups'of mechanisms, one of which isintended to transmit impressions to the sense of hearing of the player,while the second of the same is adapted to be actuated by the saidplayer who is operating the unit.

Thus I have illustrated the game as including a number of units and asingle me; chanically operated piano or organ, which latter is common toall of the units and embraces the first group of mechanism, while ahand-wheel provides an element in the nature of a baton which forms apart of the second group of mechanism of each unit.

Connected with the hand-wheel ofeach unit there is mechanism whichserves first unit is properly operated, to indicate that, the personactuating the same is the winner of the game.

Referring to the drawings and icularly the first sheet thereof, it wilbe noted that the reference numeral 15 indicates the organ or ianoutilized, which in the resent embo iment is provided with a rum orsimilar percussion device 16 registering the beats of the music. Theentire game may be housed in a booth 17 and at the frontof the booththere is a counter 18 from which hand-wheels 19 extend, one of thesehandwheels being furnished for each unit. To the rear of this counterthere is preferably provided an area-wayfor the accommodation of theoperator or owner of the game and to the rear of this passage there isin turn provided a' second counter 20 which serves to mount the visualregistering mechanism of the game and to enclose the operating parts ofthe said mechanism.

It will be noted, reference being had to Figure 2, that each of thehand-wheels 19 carries a crank 21 which may be gripped by the personactuating the unit. A shaft 22 carries the hand-wheel 19 and extendsrotatably within the counter 18 at which point there IS affixed to it anarm 23. This arm is provided with a forked or slotted outer end 24' asin Figs. 3 and! and slidably mounted within this slot are the pintles 25of a roller 26. Concentrically disposed with respect to the shaft 22 isa band 27 preferably formed of insulating material and a contact segment28 is arranged within a gap in the inner face of this band at the upperpart thereof so as to form a continuation of the same.

It will now be seen, referring particularly 'to Fig. 2, that the deck ofthe counter 20 is formed with a circular slot 29 and extendingthrough'this slot is a shaft 30 to the upper end of which there may beattached figures 31 simulating a. pair of dancers. Carried at theopposite end'of the shaft is a roller 32 which bears against the innerface of a hoop 33 arranged within the counter 20. An arm 34 rotatablysupports the shaft 30 and this arm is aflixed to a ratchet disk 35rotatably encircling a shaft 36. Fulcrumed upon this shaft as in Figure8, is a lever 37 and carried by the lever is a pawl 38 which latterengages with the teeth of the ratchet 35, so that when the lever 37 ispro erly moved the pawl will feed the rate iet step by-step around theshaft 36.

With a view to securing such a movement on the part of the lever 37, Iprefer to employ an armature 39 which is connected by means .of a link40 with that end of the lever 37 opposite to the end at which the pawlis carried. Arranged adjacent to, or encircling the armature is asolenoid 41;and a the armature to normally project the same to theposition shown in the right-hand side of Fig. 8.

A proper engagement between the pawl 38 and teeth of the ratchet may atall times be assured by extending the rear end of the ratchetbeyond itspoint of pivotal support,

pawl 45 may be employed which similarlyto the pawl 38 also has a'sprin46 pro erly bearing against the portion 4 of its ody which. extendsbeyond its point of pivotal support. A release of both of these pawls mabe secured by utilizing a bar 48 formed wit openings 49 through whichtheir ex-, tended portions 43 and 47 project and this bar may also serveas a mounting for the s rings44 and 46. If it is desired to release t epawls, the bar 48 may be shifted so that the tension of the springs 44and 46 is relieved and finally the edge of the openings 49 will engagethe extended portions of these pawls and deliberately force the inner.ends of the same out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet so thatthis latter member together with the arm 34 carried thereby, will bereturned to its normal position by means of a spring 50, which has itsbody coiled around the shaft 36 and has one of its ends secured to afixed portion of the game apparatus while its opposite end is connectedwith the ratchet 35. Thus upon the pawls being moved to the positionshown in Figure 6 the ratchet will rotate around the shaft 36 and againresume its normal position.

Referring now to Figure 8 it Wlll be noted i that a contact plate 51 isarranged within the pathvof travel of the roller 32 and at theapproximate limit of the movement of the same. Furthermore, it will benoted that I provide for each unit a pair of solenoids 52 and 53respectively which co-operate with an armature 54 common to both of themand it will also be seen that I preferably provide a light 55 above thecounter 20.

Now referring to the circuit de icted in Fig. 8 and the method of wiringt e units, it will benoted, referring primarily to the first group ofmechanism, i, e., in the present instance the mechanically operatedpiano or organ which is common to all units, that the motor thereof hasbeen indicated by the reference numeral 56 and that a source of.

current-supply 57 is connected with this motor and serves to operate thesame. I may interpose within this circuit a variable re sistance 58 bymeans of which the speed at which the acoustical device 15 operates maybe varied. Connected with the movable portion of the percussion device16 and adapted to operate synchronousl with the same is a movablecontact mem r 59 which co-opcrates with a contact 60, it being notedthat leads A and B are connected with these two elements so that anyflow of current passing through the same will be interru ted each timethe member 59 moves out 0 enga emcnt with the contact member 60.

eferring to the wiring circuits of the secondary group of mechanism ofeach unit it will benoted that in the present instance the lead B, afOrereferred to, is connected to the arm 23 while the lead A extends to asource of current-supply 61 and is interrupted b the arm of aconventional circuitbreaker 2. A lead C also extends from the source ofcurrent-sup ly 61 and has its end connected with one o the ends of thewinding of a solenoid 41 and a further lead D is connected with the oposite end of these gsindings and also wit the contact segment Thus itwill be understood that in order to complete the circuit through thesolenoidit is necessary to bring the roller 26 into engagement with thesegment 28 during the time in which the arm 59-. is in engagement withthe contact member 60, in fact, if the engagement between the roller andse ment occurs before or after the arm 59 an contact point are engagedthe circuit can not possibly be closed and consequently the solenoidwill not be energized. If, however, the engagement between the rollerand segment are effected at the proper time this will cause the armature39 to be retracted by the solenoid from the position shown at theright-hand side of Figure 8 to the position shown at the left-hand sideof this figure, this retraction occurring against the pushing tendencyof the spring 42 and in this connection it is to be noted that thelatter, immediately upon the current ceasing to flow through thesolenoid, will again push the armature to the position indicated.

Thus upon each energization of the solenoid the pawl-38 will, by meansof the arm' 37,

advance the ratchet one tooth and this advance will be retained by meansof the pawl 45. The last'named pawl will now hold the ratchet while thearm 37 and pawl 38 are returned to their normal position by means of thespring 42.

At this time attention is invited'to Fig. 7 in which it will be noted,that the connection between the link 40 and the armature is preferablysupplied by tapping the armature and forming the rod 63, which connectsthe armature with the link, withscrew threads, These parts may be lockedin position by means of a nut 64 and additional nuts 65 are convenientlymounted upon the rod 63 and serve as a stop acting in co-operation withthe arbor 66 to thus limit the outward moveinent of the armature.Furthermore, a set screw is preferably situated to co-operate with theinner end of the armature and this member limits the movement of thesame in w an inward direction, it being apparent from the foregoingconstruction that the parts may be assembled and that subsequentlyadjustments may be made with that degree of nicety which will insureproper movement on the part of the armature and conse uently the desiredco-operation of the paw and the ratchet mechanisms.

Now assuming that the solenoid is energized a sufficient number of timesto move the arm 34 from the position shown in Fi ure 8 to that indicatedin Figure 9. It Wlll be appreciated that a circuit will be closedthrough the roller 32 and the contact member 51. This circuit embracesthe source of current-supply 61 as well as the leads A and C extendingtherefrom and it Wlll be noted reference being had particularly toFigure 9 that these leads have the ends of branch leads E and Fconnected with their bodies, the continuation of the leads A and Bbeyond these points of connection having been indicated in dash lines inFigure 9. The leads E and F are also connected respectively with theinner and outer ends of the windings of the solenoid 53 andthusinstantly upon a contact having been established between the roller 32and. the member 51, to complete the circuit shown in F1 re 9, thearmature 54 will be attracted an the parts will be caused to operate toestablish the circuit shown in Figure 10.

In this figure it will be noted that the lead F has connected with itsbody the lead G which is in turn connected with the armature 54. Leads,H and I are connected with the lead A and arranged in series with thelead I is the solenoid of the circuitbreaker 62 and the end of this leadis connected with the contact point '68, while the lead H is directlyconnected with one end of the windings of the solenoid 52.

Thus one circuit will be closed through the source of current-supply 61,the lead A, the lead I contact-point 68, the armature 54, the leads Gand F and finally the lead C. A second circuit will also beclosedthrough the source of current-supply, the lead A, the lead H, thewindings of the solenoid 52 through the contact stem 69 thereof to thearmature 54 and through the leads G, F and C. The final circuit will beclosed, when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 10, throughthe .lead J which is connected with the body of the lead A and extendsthrough to the contact-plate 7O lying below the armature 54, it beingnoted that the said lead J has arranged in series with it the bulb orlight 55.

In other words in the example -of the invention illustrated in Figure 8we have the operator of the game endeavoring to close one circuit. InFigure 9 we have exemplified this circuit as having been closed asufiicient number of times to bring the roller 32 into engagement withthe contact 51 thus completing the circuit i. e., the one through thesolenoid 53 and finally in Figure 10 there is shown the instantaneousconsequence of the closing of the circuit 'mentioned in connection withFigure 9, it being noted in Figure 10 that three distinct circuits areshown as closed. These circuits include, first, the one through thecircircuit-breaker 62, secondly the one, through the solenoid 52 andfinally the one through the light 55 or other signal utilized.

In operating the game it will be understood that a number of playersarrange themselves before the counter 18 and each of them grasps thecrank 21 of one of the hand wheels 19. Until this time the switch 71 ispreferably left open so that all of the secondary mechanism of each unitis rendered inoperative. However, due to the fact that the acousticaldevice is on another circuit, this member will continue to function.When the players are in readiness, the switch 71 may be closed to renderall of the circuits operative and the object of the game is to utilizethe crank 21 as a baton to keep in time with the beat of the music asexemplified by the percussion device 16. Althou h the beat of the musicmay be regular, I prefer to provide a music roll or rec- 0rd which is socut or arranged as to play a medle or in other words which when playewill vary for example, from 2/4 to 4/4 time to 3/4 time etc., etc. Thesechanges intime may be abru t or may merge into one another as is founmost practical and the time beats may further be varied by means of theresistance 58 provided for this purpose it being of course understoodthat if 1t is found desirable all chan es in time may be accomplished bymeans of either operating this part, or-by constructing the record toaccomplish this result.

Thus it will be obvious that difliculty will be experienced on the partof the layers in endeavoring to operate the cran s in such a manner asto keep in time with the music and particularly due to the fact that Ipropose employing a record of such a length that it will be virtuallyimpossible for a person to memorize the same together with allvariations in time-beat produced thereby. It will hence be necessary foreach pla er, in the type of apparatus illustrated in t e presentapplication to bring the baton i. e., the crank to its lowermostposition at the fact that the roller 32 is bearin against with the plate28, in that interval during which the arm 59 rests upon the contactmember 60 it will be ap arent that no advance of the ratchet 35 wi occurand accordingly the figures 31 will not revolve upon themselves noraround the shaft 36 and consequently the player will be made aware thathe has not operated the mechanism in synchronism with the beat of theorgan. or piano. 1

The possibility of fraud in this connection is avoided due to the.slot24 provided by. the forked end-portion of the arm 23, in that, shouldthe pla er attempt to win the game by simply hol ing the hand-wheel insuch a position that the outer end of the arm 23 Wlll lie adjacent tothe segment 28, it will be noted that no contact can occur due to thefact'that the roller will move to the position indicated in dot and dashlines v in Figure 4, it being necessary to rotate the arm 23 at amplespeed to provide sufficient centrifugal force to throw the roller intocontact with the segment 28 ashas been indicated in full lines in Figure4.

The various players of the game, operating in competition with oneanother will now endeavor to actuate the cranks in synchronism with thebeat of the music, their object bein ,to register the greatest amount ofcorrect beats in the shortest interval of time and it will be apparentthat as they have completed the game the correctness or incorrectness ofthe results achieved by each individual player will be accuratelyregistered by means of the figures 31. Upon one of the units having beenoperated correctly a suflicient number of times to bring the artsthereof to the position shown in Fi re 9 it will be obvious that thecircuit in icated in this figure will be completed first and this willresult in the immediate establishment of the further circuits shown inFigure 10 and the interruption of the circuit described in connectionwith Fi re 9,

By virtue of the further and final registering means provided by thelight 55 the players will become aware that this particular unit hasbeen operated with the greatest degree of correctness in the shortestinterval of time and the possibility of a tie occurring between twounits is almost entirel precluded in that, even if two units had enoperated in such a manner that it s I: required'but the furtheradvancement of one tooth onthe part of the rachets to bring themechanism of these units to their final positions and further, even ifbothoperators of the units brought the rollers 26 to bear against thecontact segment'28 thereof, durin that interval of time in which the memer 59 was engaging the contact-plate 60, as long as the engagementbetween the rollers 23 and segment 28 of the different units was morethan approximately 1/200 of' a second apart the circuitbreaker 62 wouldoperate to thus disconnect the circuits of all of the other units and toprevent any further actuation of the same.

After the winner of the game has been declared, a return of all of themechanism to its initial position may be secured by simply moving thebar 48 to throw the pawls 38 and out of engagement with the teeth of theratchet 35 thus allowing the springs cooperating with the same to returnthe ratchets as well as the arms 34 to their initial positions. a

From the foregoing it will be understood that, all of the objects ofthis invention have been accomplished and it will furthermore beappreciated that, although I have shown but one form of my invention inthe present application, numerous forms of the same mi htreadily beresorted to and also that, alt ough for the sake of simplicity I haveherewith illustrated an electrical control for causin the operation ofthe mechanism,

any desira 1e form of control might be utilized and that numerousstructural variations might be resorted to without in the leastdeparting from the spirit of my invention as defined by the appendedclaims:

What I claim as my invention.is:

'1. A game, including, in combination, means for producing a beat, anumber of competitive units, means individual to each of said units formanuallyoperating the same in registry with said heat, and means forindicating the correctness of such registry.

2. A game, including, in combination, means for producing a beat, anumber of competitive units, means individual to each of said units formanually operating the same in registry with said beat, and means forindicating the failure of such registry.

3. A game, including, in combination,

competitive units, means individual to each of saidunits for manuallyoperating the same in registry with said beat, means for indicating thecorrectness and failure of such means for producing a beat, a number ofregistry, signalling means, and means connected with said units foractuating said signalling means and adapted to operate upon themanually-operated means of one of said units having correctly actuated acertain number of times.

4. A game, including, in combination, means for rendering a musicalselection, a plurality of competitive units, manuallyactuated meansassociated with each of saidunits for actuating the same and to beoperated in time with the beat of such rendition,

and means for indicating that unit which upon one of the same havingbeen correctly- 7 actuated a number of times.

6. A game, including, 'in combination, means for producing a beat, aplurality of competitive units, manual means for operating each of saidunits in time with said beat, means actuated by said manual means forprogressively indicating the correctness of operation of the latter, andmeans associated-with each of said units and operating upon one of saidprogressive means reaching a predetermined point.

7. A game, includin in combination, means for producing a beat,'aplurality of competitive units, manual means for operating each of saidunits in time with said beat, means actuated by said manual means forprogressively indicating the correctness of operation of the latter,means associated with each of said units and operatin upon one of saidprogressive means reaching a predetermined point, and means forinterrupting the further operative progress of the other units upon saidlast-named means being actuated.

8. A game, including, in combination, means'operating to produce animpression upon one of the senses, a number of competitive units, manualmeans for operating each of said units and to be actuated in substantialsynchronism with the impression re-' ceived by said first-named means,means for indicating the result .of such actuation, and means associatedwith said units to automatically indicate when one of the samehasmechanism and projecting into said opening,

means for progressively advancing the parts of said mechanism withrespect to each other, and means operated by said mech anism, said barbeing movable to discontinue thefurther operation of said mechanism.

10. A game, including a paWl-and-ratchet mechanism, a bar formed with anopening,

petitive units, each comprising manual means for operating the same,registering means, means connected with both of said last-named meansfor progressively operating the latter, means whereby said lastnamedmeans will be inoperative except when said manual means is actuated 1nproper response to said impression-producing means, and signalling meansactuated upon said registering means being operated a number of times.

12. game, includin in combination, means operating to pro uce animpression upon one of the senses, a plurality of competitive units,each comprising manual means foroperating the same, registering means,means connected with both of said last-named means for progressivelyoperating the latter, means whereby said lastnamed means .will beinoperative exce t when said manual means is actuated in proper responseto said impression-producing means, signalling means actuated upon saidreglstering means being operated a number of times, and means forrendering the other units inoperative upon the signalling means of oneof the same being actuated.

13. A game, includin in combination, means operating to pro uce animpression upon one of the senses, a plurality of competitive units,each comprising manual means for operating the same, registerin means,means connected withboth of sai last-named means for progressivelyoperating the latter, means whereby said lastnamed means will beinoperative except when said manual means is actuated in proper responseto said impression-producmg means, signalling means actuated upon saidregistering means being operated a number of times, means for renderingthe other units inoperative upon the signalling means of one of the samebeing actuated, and means for returning all of the parts to theirinitial position.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this6th day of 'December, A. D. 1922.

FRANK R. CHESTER.

